Knitting Rules! - Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

Knitting Rules! By Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

~~~About the author~~~

You may of read my other review about a knitting book by Debbie Bliss so you know my current knitting status (still beginner). Stephanie Pearl-McPhee is a different kind of author and Knitting Rules! is different kind of knitting book. Stephaine Pearl-McPhee has written around 10 knitting books; all of which are very different to each other. She still writes a blog under the name ‘yarn harlot’ http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/ and she is the founder of a group called ‘knitters without borders’ who have raised over 1 million Canadian dollars for ‘Doctors without Borders’ (a charity that send doctors and health professionals to countries where hospitals and medicine is not as widely available as it is in the UK or USA).

~~~About the book~~~

Knitting Rules! Is a very funny, down to earth book for knitters who love knitting rather than knitters who simply knit. The book creates an image of knitters that is countrified, a bit of a hoarder and someone who knits anywhere, anytime and for any reason. A really comfortable type of person (if that exists).

The book has 8 chapters with a huge glossary at the back which covers 7 pages and gives a simple guide to some of the words and phrases that could cause confusion for knitters. Each chapter is approached in a very casual manner with lots of hints, tips, cheats and reasons to knit. The chapters are highlighted with pink/sepia pencil style sketches, numbered instructions, funny posters and lots of laughs.

Let’s look at the sock chapter in more detail. This chapter does more than help you to knit socks (which believe me are one of the trickiest things to knit!). The chapter opens with a double page spread of 10 reasons to knit socks. The reasons range from the fact you don’t need much yarn so they are cheap to make to point number 6 which argues for knitting the second sock and describes how it is good for the soul because it is pointless to just knit one and this helps to keep you from getting bored and keeps your ‘stick-to-iveness’ strong. The chapter also highlights the best ways to knit socks, the range of different ways they can be knitted. It gives a detailed instruction on how to knit them cheat style and loads of bullet pointed tips on how to avoid common errors like pointy toes. Right at the end of this chapter is a very funny double page spread with 10 reasons for not knitting socks. These reasons range from number 1 ‘sock knitting could be addictive’ to the problem of spending hours explaining to people why you knit socks and not buy then cheaply from some local department store. Overall a very funny chapter.

I think I have given you enough of a taster to convince you how good this book is.

~~~My opinion~~~

This book is like a friend, it’s reliable, tells you the truth, makes you laugh, shares secrets with you and never criticises. I have read this book cover to cover not as a reference whilst knitting but as a bedtime read to have a chuckle at. I bookmarked pages that have good tips for future reference and even copied a page to se whilst knitting. I have an issue with cracking the spine of books and like them to keep in good condition so my only complaint about this book is that I would love to have seen it published in a ring-binder format to make it more user friendly

My book came from Amazon around 18 months ago and I paid about £6 for it, you can still buy it on there now for the same price.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Knitting-Rules-S​tephanie-Pearl-McPhee/dp/1580178340